Admiring the view - opinions please

[mr_shaper]

They say a picture speaks a thousand words. Not quite sure about a thousand but I do think this picture says an awful lot.

http://i26.photobucket.com/albums/c123/DS_outandabout/theview.jpg

[BlueTit]

Ok, maybe I am not seeing it, it does not say much to me. The loudest thing in the photo to my eye is the concrete area to the bottom right. Personally I think if you cropped much tighter it would be much more interesting. The black bollard on the left, because it is just about the darkest solid object distracts the eye as well. I love the distant background out of focus but clear enough to give a sense of distance and dislocation. The body language of the girl standing is great too. This shot works well in B&W but may benefit from more contrast. They are just my humble opinions, I am no expert so don't take any offence.

[david lee]

i had a go at changing it. Hope you dont mind.
Cloned out the black bollard, cropped out the concrete block, increased contrast etc with channel mixer and curves

[BlueTit]

I think it looks better, hope the original poster does, we'll have to wait and see.

[mr_shaper]

I think it looks better, hope the original poster does, we'll have to wait and see.

I dont mind at all - Im here to learn more by listening to more experienced photographers. And when I get to actually see what they suggest it makes things alot clearer for me.

Thank you.

[kbreit]

The second one is better. It doesn't do a lot for me because it doesn't make me care about the subject. However, it's still a nice picture.

[bikerider]

David's crop makes a much more dynamic picture, there are no distractions and the contrast is spot on and it tells more of a story which may be in line with your original thoughts of this image.
Roger.

[Streetshooter]

Here I go again...always against the grain......
anyway....the 1st image is much stronger than the crop...here's why...
in the crop...the people are to far to the right...creating an off balance feeling....not that center is the balance point....in the original..the space around the couple creates a feeling of togetherness in a world that is also lonliness.....or lonely...the space creates a feeling of closeness by being so much of it...(contrast) I like the feeling from the 1st image....
also...the shapes of the pole and from the railings creates a visual dynamic that lets the eye travel in a more interesting way....and also goes nicely with the poles in the background.....
it's definately "not" a great image but the photographer is on track with this one.....don

[Gary Fairhead]

The first shot is ok except for that distracting shadow, the concrete form on the right and the bollard. These take my focus away from the subject and so I lose interest and move on to the next shot in the section (that would be 2 days ago). This second time around I find a newer version of the same shot and even though it still doesen't get me, it is enough for me to comment that its an improvement over the original.

[josephlbeattie]

I also like the first shot. It feels more like real life - solitude / loneliness happens with everything around. I work with special needs students and it is always a challenge to include them in everyday activities. This photo speaks to me of that.

[DigitalMDX]

Ok, you said edits were OK, so here is my attempt at fixing the first shot... Obviously the left pole was harder to remove and with a little more time could probably be cleaned up.

[BlueTit]

DigitalIMX the best so far I think, it gets over the problem of the positionin in the second version and it is more contrasty. In this format I really like the shot.

[flumpki]

I definitely like the final picture by DigitalMDX the best (although there is still an issue in the foreground now from the cloning.) Other than the two front distractions and contrast levels, I think the original image was good. The cropped one seemed unbalanced (too far right) and too washed out in the highlights. However the cropped one did the best job of cloning out the black pole.

[Tlee05]

this picture has a lot of emotion in it and i love it!,

[busbyea]

Ok, you said edits were OK, so here is my attempt at fixing the first shot... Obviously the left pole was harder to remove and with a little more time could probably be cleaned up.

This one makes IT !

[kingsown]

yes your first pic was almost right but you let emotion take over and did not see the distractions that spoiled your picture but nice to see that you thought out wot you saw so next time have another look to see if any thing is in the way

[queenbee288]

Love the version by Digital MDX.

[geecee]

A good rule with B&W. Often works with colour too.
"Somewhere in the picture there should be an area of pure white and an area of pure black, no matter how small."
This is easily achieved using the Histogram or Levels function in your image editing software.